What Harry doesn't know
by Caneater
Summary: The Marauders and Lily Potter are in their final year at Hogwarts, the year when James and Lily finally get together. But what happens when Sirius notices Lily one morning? SBLE, JPLE.
1. Contact

Hello, and thanks for clicking on my fanfic...I hope you will enjoy it immensely:):).

**SUMMARY:**

The Marauders and Lily Potter are in their final year at Hogwarts, the year when James and Lily finally get together. But what happens when Sirius notices Lily one morning? SBLE, JPLE.

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

This can be canon if you squint your eyes and cock your head slightly to the left, but it doesn't have to be if you don't want it to be :)

**WHAT HARRY DIDN'T KNOW**

It happened quite suddenly.

It was a Tuesday morning at the Great Hall and the Marauders were at their usual spot at the breakfast table. James and Sirius were acting out a pantomime; Peter was beside himself with laughter; and Remus was reading _Transfiguration Today,_ spectating the comedy out of the corner of one eye, and smiling slightly.

Even though The Marauders were now in seventh year and things started to get a bit more serious with NEWTS looming ahead, that did not give James and Sirius enough reason to have a bit of fun every now and then.

Close by, along the Griffindor table, sat Lily and Anne, reading through _The Daily Prophet_ that was brought to them by a tortoise-shell coloured owl. Anne was giggling slightly, but Lily paid no attention. She was completely absorbed in Bathilda Bagshot's write up on the History of the Nineteenth century. Anne's giggling became growing laughter. Slightly annoyed, Lily put down _The Daily Prophet_ and turned to Anne, looking at her reproachfully.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked with a resigned sigh.

Anne, incapable of speaking, pointed silently ahead of her, covering her mouth with her other hand. Lily turned. She saw James behind Sirius: Sirius' arms were clasped behind him, and James extended his through the loops of Sirius', acting as his best friend's arms. James was busy trying to spoon-feed Sirius some runny egg; presently bits of yellow yolk was smeared around his face.

Seeing a flash of red, Sirius' head turned and saw Lily. Bright green eyes met stormy grey. But it wasn't like before. It wasn't Lily glaring magical daggers that would leave the receiving end bleeding severely. Sirius could only describe Lily's look as surprise and that probably was what was on Sirius' face, too. He could feel the blood in his veins tingle and his heart palpitating. This, was not good. Not good at all.

Meanwhile, James was trying to force wobbly bits of egg into Sirius' ear, and not hearing any protests from his best friend. James, slightly confused, looked around to face Sirius.

"What you staring at, mate?" he asked Sirius, throwing the spoon over his shoulder, hitting an unfortunate Hufflepuff walking past. His eyes led to Lily and he burst into a broad grin. "Nicely spotted, Padfoot." James extricated his arms and patted Sirius heartily on the shoulder. The Hufflepuff behind him identified James as the assailant and slowly approached him, with a murderous look in her eyes.

"I'm gonna ask her to come with me to Hogsmeade next week," James said with a deliberate smile. He left Sirius, who was also left with the approaching Hufflepuff. She tapped Sirius irritibly on his back, and he immediately turned around. He didn't look too charming with egg yolk around his mouth, his ear and tangled in his straight black hair, but it didn't stop the girl giving a squeal of delight.

"Oh it's Sirius!" She said delightedly. She was quite tall, a little shorter than Sirius, with a heart shaped face, short blonde hair cut into a bob, an upturned nose, rose lips and sparkling blue eyes.

"Do I know you?" Sirius asked the girl, leaning an elbow on the table and wearing his lazy smile.

"I'm Michaela Smith," she said with a delighted squeal, extending a hand.

Thinking she didn't look too ugly (in fact she was quite pretty, Remus thought later), and despite the fact that she was from Hufflepuff, Sirius took her hand and pressed his lips to the girl's hand.

"_Enchante_," he replied in a overly exaggerated French accent. Michaela giggled and blushed, even though Remus rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"You wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?" Michaela burst out.

Sirius snuck a glance at Lily, who was about to be confronted by James. He knew there was no chance. He turned back to the Hufflepuff and smiled devilishly. "I'll get back to you on that one." He winked. She giggled and flounced away to join her other Hufflepuff friends, with exciting news on her lips.

Sirius turned back to the remaining Marauders, sighing emphatically, running his fingers through his jet black hair. Remus looked up at him, shaking his head.

"Our school playboy having a difficult time with the girls?" Remus said with a wry smile.

"Not as much as you, Moony," Sirius responded with a grin.

Remus sighed, and said, "You got a bit of egg yolk just there." He pointed to the corner of his mouth.

"Where?" Sirius asked, now grabbing a napkin.

"A little to the left. No, no, now a bit to the right...ah no, you just missed it! Just -"

Sirius laughed and threw the napkin at Remus. Remus laughed haughtily. It wasn't everyday that you could reduce Sirius to a huff. He watched Sirius slumped forward on the table, a hand caught in his perfect hair, his gaze now finding Lily's form once more. He scrunched up his face, thinking himself stupid and silly, and promptly rose from the breakfast table, mumbling something about Transfiguration homework. Remus looked at the cover of his book, then at Sirius' retreating back, and then realised, that for once, they had no Transfiguration homework.

Meanwhile, James approached Lily, who broke out of her spell and went back to Bathilda Bagshot's article. But before she could read so much as a line, a voice from above interrupted her.

"How is my gilded Lily, the love of my life and obsession of my heart this fine Tuesday morning?"

Lily closed her eyes and prayed to whomever was watching over her to give her the strength to deal with James Potter this morning. She opened them to find James' cocky grin and tall stature. Even in seventh year, there was still something about James that ticked Lily off, but at least they could be in the same room together and they even had had a civil conversation once. But James' face did not look like he wanted a civil conversation. No. This was ask-Lily-on-a-date face. And Lily was not ready to accept the invitation. Not yet. Not when she saw Sirius and she felt some kind of electricity charge her system that no amounts of coffee could do, nor will do. There was something about Sirius...Something that wasn't there before.

She knew that Sirius wouldn't go for her: he valued James' friendship way too much, and that was the hard part. Biting her lip, she stood up, not saying a word to anyone, and left the Great Hall promptly. She needed time and space to think. And she needed it now.

Well, waddaya think?

I hope all my grammar and things are readable. Just drop a line to say whatever mistakes I've made. Thanks for reading :)


	2. Danger

**Author's note:**

**I'm sooo sorry it took so long! My inspiration for the fic ran dry, but today, I got an amazing review on my Dramione fic, and it gave me inspiration to finish this chapter. Also, I got more reviews than I bargained for on the first chapter. **

**Thanks to **Kina Kalamari, citrusme16 , BuzzCat **For being my first reviewers. You guys are "Sirius-ly" amazing! ;)**

**And No, I don't own Harry Potter. Otherwise it would be SOOOO different! **

**CHAPTER TWO**

Despite Sirius knew that his chances with Lily were incredibly slim, he decided that at least the two could be friends, if not anything else. But Sirius, and the whole of Hogwarts, knew of James' affections for Lily. James also valued friendship incredibly highly, and Sirius didn't want to mess things up with his best friend either.

However, Sirius got his chance late Thursday night, on that same week after the incident at the Dining Hall. He disappeared from the Common Room earlier that evening, with James and Peter in tow, arguing and scheming furiously. Remus, however, stayed in the Common Room, finishing off a particularly long essay set by Prof. Slughorn. He left for the dormitory after he finished, leaving the books and the essay on the table, so that the three remaining Maruaders could copy and finish when they came back from their escapades.

Sirius returned to the Common Room much later, to find that Lily was the only one there. She was fast asleep next to the fire, a book hanging precariously from her hand. Sirius smiled tenderly and walked up to her. He tried to take the book out of her hand, brushing her knuckles gently...

She awoke with a start, rubbing her sleepy eyes with her other hand. She yawned and then frowned when she saw Sirius in front of her. "What are you doing here?" she asked sleepily.

"I was, um, finishing off that Potions essay that Slughorn set up," Sirius said after a moment's hesitation. He pointed vaguely to the pile of parchment and books Remus left on the table for them.

"Oh," Lily replied dreamily, yawning once more. "I didn't see you earlier in here."

"In the library," Sirius lied glibly. He looked at Lily with a sympathetic eye. "You know you should really get to sleep -"

"I have to finish reading this chapter," she said, waving _Advanced Transfiguration _in her hand. Sirius frowned at the cover. He wasn't quite sure if he was paying attention to what McGonnagal said in class earlier on that day. Even if Sirius did pay attention, he didn't think he would remember anyway.

"Listen, to prevent you from falling asleep again," at this, Lily profusely tried not to blush, "I'll stay here with you and we'll read it through together. I'm sure I haven't read it anyway."

Lily smiled knowingly, half-wondering why she was allowing Sirius to do with to her. Something at the back of her head assured her that inside, Sirius was a nice guy. She figured that since James grew up over the years, Sirius would follow suit.

Sirius plonked himself in a plush armchair next to Lily's and pinched the bridge of his nose while breathing out heavily, trying to wake himself up. He had no idea why he was volunteering for work, but the way how Lily made him feel was different, and he found that he wanted her company than collapsing on his four-poster bed upstairs.

Sirius leaned over the arm of his chair where Lily propped _Advanced Transfiguration_. He bent his head forward to see the lettering better...He felt Lily's soft red hair brush his skin softly. Sirius picked up his head, and found his throat was constricting as he noticed Lily was extremely close to him. Lily, noticing Sirius' movement, raised her head, too, to look at him, finding herself nose to nose with the guy. She felt like electicity was pouring into her veins and her lungs ceased to function properly. She could literally smell was Sirius was like, and linked to that was taste...

The next moment, James burst into the Common Room, alone. He stopped in the middle of the room, stunned, as he beheld Lily and Sirius in close proximity.

"You lying bastard!" James roared, and slammed a fist into Sirius' face. The black-haired boy flew backwards into his chair with such force that the chair itself fell backwards, leaving Sirius sprawling uncertainly on his back. "How _dare_ you! After all we've been through - after so many years – you would DARE to take Lily from ME!" James towered over his best friend, anger clouding his face, as he drew his fist back for another punch.

"Potter!" Lily shouted, pulling James away from Sirius.

"Lily, you stay out of this!" James said through gritted teeth, and tried to break out of Lily's grasp.

"No! I will NOT let you hurt Sirius, you insufferable prat, and I'm not yours to take from in the first place. That leaves both Sirius and me COMPLETE liberty to do whatever the hell we want!" Lily countered furiously, turning slightly red in the face.

Forgetting Sirius completely, James turned to Lily. "I told Sirius from the very beginning, from the first time I laid eyes on you, that I was gonna marry you. He swore to me that day that he would never lay a hand on you." Lily looked at James, taken by utter surprise, which loosened her hold on him. James looked away from her, slightly embarassed.

He then turned to Sirius and his face grew dark again. He clenched his jaw tightly and curled his hands into fists. "I should've seen this coming," he whispered, and then stormed up to his dormitory, slamming the door behind him.

Lily, on the point of tears, turned on her and fled to her own dormitory.

Sirius didn't move a muscle since James punched him. It took Sirius a few minutes to realise what happened to him; and he knew exactly why James did it. Sirius even knew he deserved it and he cursed himself heavily for achieving a small spark from Lily. He didn't know what to do next.

The dormitory door creaked open again, and slippered feet padded down the stairs. A hand shot into Sirius' view. He hesitated before he took it, and a considerable amount of force helped him to get up. It was Remus.

"I heard shouting," Remus said quietly, surveying Sirius' defeated form with his amber eyes. "I knew something was really wrong when I saw James storm in, and you weren't behind him." He waved his wand at the arm chair, took Sirius' arm, and led him back into it. Remus then sat in Lily's previous armchair and started to study Sirius' wound.

"Did he punch you?" Remus asked softly.

"It wasn't like I was going to kiss her," Sirius blurted. "I just looked at her one day, and it was _there_." He shook his head. "Now everything's messed up 'cos I went and got feelings for the girl."

Remus' eyes widened. "Lily?"

"Yes, Lily," Sirius said bitterly, running his long fingers through his fine hair. He looked up at the loveseat opposite them. "I think I'll camp out here for the night, give a chance for James to cool down." He let out a long, drawn-out breath, and then stood up.

"This probably won't last for long, you know," Remus said.

Sirius apprehensively looked over his shoulder at Remus. "Not if it involves his red-haired vixen," Sirius said with a sigh. Remus quirked a curious eyebrow at him. Sirius turned, raising his arms in exasperation. "I know, I know, I got it bad." He fell into the loveseat with a humph, closing his eyes and almost immediately falling asleep.

Remus watched Sirius' prone form with a smile. Sirius was an easy sleeper, the werewolf learned. He could sleep anywhere, wake up anytime, but never woke up in between. Remus could never understand why, but it was useful in some situations.

It was about an hour before Remus stood up to leave.

**Author's note:**

Um, about the 'Red-haired vixen' : I'm quite sure that James would've said something like that during his school years, to show how obviously he liked Lily. I suppose the same could be said for Sirius, and hence Remus' reaction!


	3. No One Knows

YAY chapter 3 is up. Sorry for the wait. Writing my trial exams and the teachers and things are still on strike. Enjoy! I don't own Harry Potter.

The next day, the three teens had not spoken a word to each other. Lily avoids both James and Sirius like they were Bobotuber pus, and James radiated anger that could have been used as a better power source than the sun. Honestly, Sirius had no idea why he should take this kind of treatment from any of them. Every time he tried to explain things to James, the bespectacled boy turned the other way and completely ignored Sirius. He didn't even try Lily; he knew it would be too awkward anyway, and besides he simply had no idea what to say.

Eventually at lunch, Sirius stalked off to the Great Lake and plonked himself on a small hillock with a small spinney growing in the middle of it. He looked broodily at the Lake through his fringe, arms folded on his knees. After a while, Remus joined him and they sat together in silence, Remus knowing that saying nothing at all was the best thing at the time. Together they watched the grounds silently as students came and went to different classes, sometimes lying on the tree, or leaning on each other.

Eventually when the sun was setting, Remus cleared his throat and said, "There's a party in the Room of Requirement tonight."

Sirius glanced at him, disinterested. "James isn't going," Remus continued, staring at the landscape before him. "'Cos Lily asked me to go with her instead."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, but kept silent. "It's too bad," Remus said, leaning back on his hands. "I really wanted to go with someone else. But I feel bad dropping Lily."

"So who you wanna go with?" Sirius looked at Remus, his eyes showing a spark of mischief. Remus kept silent, getting slightly embarrassed. "Is it that Hufflepuff girl from the other day?" Remus sighed and nodded imperceptibly. Sirius barked with laughter, the familiar lines on his face now beginning to show. "I shoulda known, Moony. Tell you what." He put his arm around Remus' shoulders. "I will go with his Angela girl tonight, JUST for you."

Remus looked at Sirius in protest, now knowing there was _no_ chance of even talking to Michaela that night. Reading the look, Sirius smiled reassuringly. "Oh, don't worry, Moony. You'll get your girl tonight." He winked roughishly. "Besides, I have other plans tonight other than consorting with your Monique tonight."

"Michaela," Remus said with a sigh, but didn't want to enquire Sirius' plans. He just didn't want to know.

Sirius' good mood lasted the whole evening. No one asked why, but everyone was glad to see that he wasn't brooding. He pulled on a black dress shirt, open at the neck, and mussed his hair up with a bit of water. After stealing James' Invisibility Cloak from underneath the floorboards (you have no idea how many people go digging for this thing!), he strode out of the Common Room with style and ease, not looking once at James, but getting more stares than usual from the girls.

He found Michaela already waiting outside the Room of Requirement, with a yellow summer dress on, flared at the knees with a black belt around her waist. Her blond hair had a black bow in it and she even put on make-up. Sirius could not deny that she was pretty, but the woman holding his affections was just beautiful. He kissed her cheek, held out his arm and together they entered the Room.

Inside was a large hall, filled with many buzzing students in semi-formal attire. There was laughing and dancing, the tables heavily ladled with Hogwarts' best food and pumpkin juice. _Ha, perfect,_ thought Sirius slyly. His plan would work out spectacularly. Spotting Remus and Lily sitting on chairs in a corner, apparently in deep conversation, Sirius weaved his way through the crowd (of course not missing the opportunity for smiles and winks at a few familiar faces – and not so familiar faces) towards the drinks table. He ladled a goblet of pumpkin juice for Michaela, using his ability of sleight of hand to lace it with Love Potion that Sirius almost always carried with him (just in case).

Hollering Remus from out of his corner, he made sure that the only thing Michaela saw was the bottom of her goblet. Eventually, Remus arrived, and Sirius could let go of the goblet stem. Michaela hastily set it down, slightly breathless. Suddenly, she was all eyes for Remus.

"Oh, would you look at this sad picture," Sirius said, his puppy-eye look coming on. "Remus has no partner. What a shame." Remus looked at Sirius incredulously and mouthed _what do you think you're doing?_ Sirius ignored it and said, "Well, I probably the most _boring _guy in the room, and Remus would be much more interesting."

Michaela did nothing, but look at Remus with very dangerous look in her eye. For Remus it spoke of many, many dark corners. For Sirius, it was a plan well executed. He gave Michaela over to Remus, the girl latching on to Remus' arm, her eyes never leaving his face.

"Are you sure this is alright?" Remus whispered on his way past.

Sirius gave him one of his trademark mischievous smiles. "This is perfect Moony."

And the two disappeared into the crowd. Soon enough, Lily wandered over to the table, and took a while to approach Sirius. Sirius noticed she wore a dark blue dress, cut off at the knees, the back laced up elegantly. Her hair was loose, cascading down her shoulders. She tucked a strand behind her ear and said:

"Listen, about last night -"

"That was last night," Sirius cut it, his face unreadable. "This is tonight. Just forget it."

Lily inclined her head in defeat.

"Where's Remus?" Sirius asked, moving closer to her.

"I don't know. He just disappeared," Lily replied, pouring herself some pumpkin juice. _Gah_, Sirius thought to himself, _I should've spiked the whole punch bowl!_ But he left this as it was; the situation was at least manageable from here.

"He made off with my partner," Sirius said conversationally. "Have no idea where they went."

Lily looked at Sirius disapprovingly. "You're not going to suggest what I think you're going to suggest, are you?"

Sirius leaned close to her and said, "And what do you think I was going to suggest, Lily dearest?"

Lily narrowed her eyes dangerously, not wanting to give up her composure, especially due to Sirius' closeness. "You think you can charm every girl you see," she hissed.

"Oh, no, Lily. I _know_ I can charm any girl I see."

That, Sirius found out a second later, was not the right thing to say, because Lily pushed him away from her and stomped angrily out the Room of Requirement. Sirius sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he wasted a few seconds to think the situation through.

He went after her.

"You think you're this macho man that has every little girl around your finger!" Lily burst out in the corridor.

"That's because I'm good at it. I could get any girl I wanted in that room, Evans," Sirius retorted, his voice raising. "I didn't have to come out here for you."

"But you did," Lily said, crossing her arms and an irritating smirk playing on her lips.

They were interrupted by a couple who were entering the Room of Requirement. Both Sirius and Lily met them with disapproving stares. When they had gone in, Sirius realised he had to retort, but Lily made it easier for him.

"You're just a player, a guy who thinks he can get whomever, whenever he wants!" Sirius took a step forward; Lily took a quick step back. "And guys like that make me so mad because their ego is so dense you can't breathe!" Another step back. "That makes a guy so unattractive," she said in a soft voice. Sirius took another step and Lily was backed against the stone wall. "I -" and then she stopped talking. She realised the closeness of Sirius all very suddenly: his hand was next to her head, and he leaned into her and whispered in her ear, "So this is unattractive?"

Lily closed her eyes and breathed slowly, fighting a losing battle in gaining her composure again. Sirius' breath tickled her exposed neck and send shivers down her spine and her head felt light. _No...no, don't do this Lily. You can't let him win! _For the second time that night, Lily pushed Sirius away from her.

"Oh no, you don't," she said, her voice dangerously soft. With wide eyes, Sirius watched as Lily pushed him up against the opposite wall, her body pressed up against his. His breath quickened as he felt their thighs pressing up against each other, Lily's hands trailing down his neck, her sweet, sexy smile. _Where did this come from, _he asked himself. "You're not the only one who can get your way, Black."

She made to push away from him but he kept her close by placing his arms around her waist. "What are you -" and then Sirius silenced her with a light kiss on her upturned lips. They looked at each other in stunned silence, each realising what had happened. Sirius' eyes hinted at curiosity and intrigue, Lily's a turmoil of emotions and confusion.

With a flourish, Sirius took the Invisibility Cloak out and wrapped it around them, barely covering the pair, while efficiently swopping their positions. "Are you sure about this?" Lily asked, her eyes speaking a million other questions.

"It's just the two of us now," Sirius whispered and leaned down to kiss her again, but with more purpose. She responded, her hands running through his fine hair, her eyes closed, bodies pressed against each other and thinking that no one and nothing in the world could stop them or see them.

Or so they thought. Midnight blue robes and a rich voice humming a delightful tune swept passed them. Neither of them heard the mumble, "Interesting," at the end of the corridor.

Tada! I always thought Lily was a fiery and full of ooommmph etc. And the guy walking past in Dumbledore, his glasses rumoured to see through invisibility cloaks ;).

Please please review. Makes production go faster!

Caneater ^_^


	4. Admitting Defeat

Sirius walked Lily back to the Common Room. The were holding hands, the Invisibility Cloak tucked under Sirius' other arm. As the held a quiet conversation, Lily was surprised to find how incredibly bright Sirius was – not that she thought he was stupid. But she was intrigued to find his broad interest and knowledge of Transfiguration and Defense Against Dark Arts. Lily reckoned if Sirius didn't spend all those years pulling pranks and landing up in weekly detention, he would best Lily in academics!

At the Fat Lady they paused, and Sirius kissed her hand while smiling beguilingly at her.

"Know this can never happen in public again, Black," Lily said, smoothing the front of her cloak.

"Of course. I don't want to ruin my lady's reputation," Sirius replied with a sly wink.

Lily gave him an affectionate smile before muttering the password to a confused Fat Lady and she climbed into the Common Room. Sirius, however, continued to walk down the passage and turned into the nearest classroom. He fell into the nearest chair speechlessly, running his hands through his hair, shaking his head.

"What have I done?" He then cursed loudly and punching the desk in frustration. "James must _never_ know about this."

Sirius woke up late the next morning. He immediately tore the curtains of his four-poster bed open, to find James' bed to be empty. Remus looked up from the essay he was writing on his bed. He said nothing until Sirius stood up.

"What happened between you two last night?" Remus enquired to Sirius quietly. Sirius didn't answer Remus, and instead went to the en-suite bathroom, grabbing his towel on the way. "Sirius?" Remus called after him, a little louder and more worriedly. The Animagus stopped before he reached the showers.

Softly, he said, "Just don't tell James."

Sirius found James and Lily arguing in the Common Room when he came down.

"Just tell me _why _you can't come with me to Hogsmeade?" James was sounding frustrated.

"Belive me, Potter, you don't want to know."

"What? Do you already have a date or something?" James asked, his jaw locked.

Lily didn't reply. Sirius saw now for the first time, that Lily didn't have a smart retort to throw back at him. She was only looking at James with fiery determination.

"Who is the bloke?" James asked, bunching his hand into a fist.

Lily made to open her mouth when Sirius said from his position from the staircase, "It's you, mate. Didn't you notice?" Both of them turned to stare at Sirius for a few seconds. Lily's told of disbelief, and James...well James had something similar, but a more optimistic look to it. "You didn't see her come back early from the party last night 'cos she found it boring without you?"

James stared at his best friend, his mouth slightly open, his feud forgotten for those few seconds. He then turned to Lily. "Are you serious about this?"

Lily looked from Sirius to James and back to Sirius again. Sirius' face softened slightly and gave her a slight nod. He was willing to let this one go. The only one that could capture his heart in just one instant. The red head's gaze turned to James and she nodded. "I'm serious."

James wooped, sheer triumph reflected in his face. Lily felt slightly embarrassed and moved to slightly quieter part of the Common Room, while Sirius slipped off and out of the castle. He stumbled on to the Quidditch Pitch, after what felt like an hour of wandering the grounds. He sat smack bang in the middle of it, leaned back on his hands, and looked at the pale blue sky through his long fringe.

He didn't know why he just did that, but he knew somehow that James and Lily belonged together, and Sirius would only cause more trouble between the two of them. Hey, if Sirius hadn't known James at all, he assumed they would've hit it off ages ago. Sirius eventually convinced himself that all he felt towards Lily was pure lust and nothing more. James would give her the world. Sirius couldn't come close to that.

James approached Sirius from where he was sitting, carrying a cloth full of food from the kitchens. "You missed breakfast, mate," James said quietly, seating himself and offering the cloth-ful of food to Sirius. "Thought I would bring it to you." Silence as Sirius thanked James with a grateful nod and unfolded the cloth. "Thanks." James said gruffly. "For earlier. For a minute there, I thought she was gonna say that she was gonna go with you."

Sirius thought that too, but didn't voice that opinion. "Nah, I reckoned that I would keep that one innocent. Just for you."

James looked at Sirius. "So you never -"

"No," Sirius said, maybe too quickly, but promptly saved himself by stuffing a whole drumstick into his mouth. "Nevva."

James let out a relieved sigh. "So why did you come out here then?"

"T' fink a bi'," Sirius said. He swallowed a huge chunk of chicken. "Kinda realised there was more to this world than scoring the most chicks, or seeing how much trouble you get." James agreed silently from next to him. "Maybe I'm growing up." He chuckled. "Who woulda thought."

"Don't get too old though," James laughed, clapping Sirius' shoulder in a brotherly fashion. "I'm sure as hell not gonna catch up."

"Thought you were with Lily though," Sirius looked at his best friend in mild suprise. James met him with a naughty grin.

"Still don't mean I can't have a little fun!" He stood up and held out his hand for Sirius. "I'm sure there's some work for us to do. As always," James said in a pompous voice.

"I say, dear James that you might be right," Sirius replied, mimcking James' voice and using his hand to help himself up. "But not before I beat you to the castle!" And he raced towards the front gate, with James yelling at him in his wake.

**THE END**


End file.
